ASH joins the Cease Tobacco Air pollution Alliance in attending the second session of the fifth Intergovernmental Negotiating Convention (INC-5.2) of the United Nations Treaty to Finish Plastic Air pollution in Geneva, Switzerland from August 5 – 14, 2025. ASH’s Government Director Laurent Huber will share updates and progress right here for our group to remain engaged and knowledgeable.
Divided Paths at INC-5.2: The Way forward for the International Plastics Treaty Hangs within the Steadiness
August 6, 2025 – Day two of the INC-5.2 negotiations has revealed a stark divide amongst taking part international locations. On one aspect are nations dedicated to creating a powerful, binding international instrument to deal with plastic air pollution and defend each the surroundings and public well being. On the opposite aspect are international locations intent on limiting the treaty’s ambition, searching for to protect a largely unregulated international commerce surroundings for plastic merchandise.
This divide has created a difficult surroundings for negotiators. With simply days remaining earlier than the August 14 deadline, the way forward for the treaty hinges on whether or not international locations can transfer past entrenched positions and agree on significant commitments.
A key debate facilities on nationwide sovereignty and public well being. Many international locations have made it clear: any international settlement should respect their proper to take stronger motion to guard their residents and environments from plastic-related hurt. These protections are essential given the mounting proof linking plastic air pollution—not solely from packaging and microplastics but in addition from merchandise like cigarette filters—to severe environmental degradation and unfavorable well being outcomes.
Sadly, others are working to make sure the treaty is as weak as attainable, stripping out measures that may require actual motion to curb plastic manufacturing, regulate hazardous merchandise, and scale back international waste streams.
Within the midst of this pressure, one clear assertion was launched as we speak from the World Well being Group (WHO).
WHO delivered a powerful assertion calling for well being safety to be entrance and middle within the treaty negotiations and explicitly urged for a ban on cigarette filters—a single-use plastic product that provides no well being profit, contributes massively to international litter, and leaches poisonous chemical compounds into the surroundings.
Learn the WHO’s Assertion Right here>
Motion on Smoking and Well being (ASH) applauds WHO’s management.
Cigarette filters are one of the vital pervasive types of plastic air pollution and a lethal distraction—giving people who smoke a false sense of security whereas doing nothing to scale back well being dangers. A ban on cigarette filters could be a big victory for each environmental and public well being.
ASH, together with the Surfrider Basis Europe, Break Free From Plastic, Honest Useful resource Basis, International Middle for Good Governance in Tobacco Management, the Swiss Affiliation for Tobacco Management and Gezondheidsfondsen voor Rookvrij submitted official testimony as we speak calling for cigarette filters to be included within the remaining lists of plastics to be banned beneath the Treaty.
As negotiations proceed, ASH calls on all international locations to place folks and the planet forward of company pursuits. A robust, bold plastics treaty can save lives, defend ecosystems, and protect the fitting of nations to take decisive motion for a more healthy, extra sustainable future.
ASH’s Key Factors for INC-5.2 can be found to assessment in: English
